The present invention relates to an apparatus to be employed in the treatment of fluids, particularly water, sewage, waste water and the like, for separating suspended particles of foreign matter from the fluid being treated which contains such suspended particles by taking advantage of the difference between the specific gravity of such suspended particles and that of the fluid. More specifically, the invention relates to a multitube separator wherein an assembly comprising a multiplicity of long and narrow tubular passages of a certain cross-sectional configuration arranged compactly and parallel to one another under a certain systematic cross-sectional alignment is positioned in an inclined relation to the horizontal, through which tube-nest assembly the fluid being treated is allowed to pass, whereby the occurrence of a turbulence is prevented which hinders the settling of suspended particles from the flow of the fluid being treated and whereby the distance which a suspended particle in the fluid must fall until it reaches the bottom of the passage. The purpose of the tube-nest assembly is to obtain improved results such as reduced time for separation, increased clarity of the separated fluid, and increased treatment capacity, and also to provide a more compact apparatus. The invention provides a multitube separator of novel and improved design which further improves said improved results and also gives various other advantages.
This type of multitube separator can be employed for the settling and separation of suspended particles having a greater specific gravity than the fluid to be treated or for the floating and separation of particles having a smaller specific gravity than the fluid, whichever the case may be. Suspended materials are often in the form of fine solid particles. Beside the case with such suspended materials, the separator can be also employed for separating immiscible fluids, e.g., oil from water. However, for the purpose of simplification and better understanding, description is made hereinafter mainly with respect to the case where fine solid suspended particles having a greater specific gravity than the fluid being treated are settled and separated from the fluid.
A settling and separating device having above said type of multitube separator is hereinafter referred to as a tube settler.